The News Agency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Modi and Ganga Ma

By: Nanda Priya Nivedita Dasi for ISKCON News on June 27, 2014

Newly elected PM of Indian Narendra Modi performing Ganga puja

Close to a billion people decided the face of Indian politics recently this year. The election was massive and by far the most important.Frustrated with high corruption rates and little development, Indian citizens were hoping for quality leadership and were desperate for change.

After the battle and consuming hard work, BJP's Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister, it was clearly a sweeping victory. Modi addressed issues that were of most concern to the citizens and promised to achieve targets, never before heard of. Interestingly, the issue that caught the most attention, was the revamp of the Ganges.

The Ganges is perhaps the most sacred and the most revered river in the world.Often addressed as Ganga Ma or Mother Ganges, she nourishes life along her course and has millions of people thriving on her. She begins her course on planet earth from the majestic Himalayas, and finally feeds the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges has lived through thousands of generations although unfortunately now, happens to be one of the world's most polluted rivers. A shocking 29,000 million litres of untreated sewage is dumped into the Ganges everyday.Toxic waste from tanneries, non biodegradable materials from various industries,partially disposed corpses, decomposed waste from slaughterhouses threaten the very existence of this exquisite river of life.

Millions of dollars have been invested by the Indian Government and other international organisations to clean the Ganges, with little or no success. The problem is complex and the task truly Herculean, but good news is that Narendra Modi has dared to take up this issue and has bodily declared that the Ganges will after all be cleaned.

Like for most people in India for Mr.Modi too the Ganges is not just a river but is his worship-able Goddess. He respects the serenity of the Ganges and vowed to clean her up if he was given a chance to rule India. After a roaring victory, Modi was elected Prime Minister and one of the first things he did when he swore in was to visit his Mother, the Ganges. It was quite a sight to see the Prime Minister of one of the fastest growing economies, bowing down to this dynamic river and perform the traditional arthi ceremony.

The Vedic scriptures affirm that the spiritual benefits of the Ganges are many. Like a patient mother she is believed to absorb all the sins one has committed by mind, body and soul. Srila Prabhupada explains that a true leader is one who carefully follows the Vedic injunctions, Narendra Modi seems to be one such leader. To make things more systematic and achievable an entire ministry has been formed to attend to the issue of the Ganges. The Ministry is headed by Uma Bharathi and has the environmental minister in the team too. How far the mission would be successful will be known with time, but surely the effort is commendable and requires everyone's support.